Internet protocol text relay for hearing impaired users

ABSTRACT

IP text relay or phone captioning is described herein, to facilitate communication through the use of traditional phone or VOIP or internet telephone system between people of hearing impaired and those who can hear. This service and device will enable users to communicate with users of hearing via assistance of an operator who will transcribe the call, while also receiving the Caller ID of the calling party and not the relay center.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.61/133,950, filed on Jul. 3, 2008 (and entitled IP Text Relay ForHearing Impaired Users) and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/162,935,filed on Mar. 24, 2009 (and entitled Calling Party's Caller ID to a Deafor Hard of Hearing User via Relay Service), both of which areincorporated in their entirety herein by reference.

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 12/496,165,filed on Jul. 1, 2009 (and entitled Internet Protocol Text Relay ForHearing Impaired Users), which is incorporated in its entirety herein byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to the field oftelecommunications. In particular, the invention relates to a system andmethod for assisting the hearing impaired by a communications assistantwhile also facilitating the calling party's Caller ID into XML text orto be shown on any telephone for hard of hearing party to see.

2. Description of the Related Art

There is a necessity for humans to communicate with one another. Therehave been many inventions to assist such communication, especially inthe field of devices or services for the deaf. However, most of thesedevices have been created using BAUDOT protocol, used for modem to modemcommunication, which was communicating at 45.5 baud. Commonly knowndevices are TDD or Teletype TTY. Some of the modem devices are TDDconsisting of keyboard and display with built in modem.

Due to the proliferation of the internet, the present invention willprovide a mechanism for to people to communicate with each otherregardless of geographic boundaries. The present invention may be usedwith any telephone currently available or anything that will be inventedin the future to assist the communications assistant or the operator.The present invention may replace many of those devices as it usesinternet protocol which works over a global communications network. Thepresent invention will further assist companies and service providerswho are in the business of translating and transcribing.

The advantage of this invention described herein will allow the end userdevice to receive text or captioned text to be displayed. The wordsspoken by the called party will be transcribed by an operator orcommunications assistant for streaming as text to the device of an enduser who is hearing impaired. The device may be any of IP phone,Blackberry, WM-Windows Mobile, Symbian (an operating system of NOKIA),Java, Flash, XML, etc., as is well known to those skilled in the art.

Accordingly, there is now provided with this invention an improvedcommunications system for the hearing impaired effectively overcomingthe aforementioned difficulties and longstanding problems inherent inthe voice communication field. Additionally, this invention furtherpromotes functional equivalency for the hard of hearing by providingCaller ID of the calling party instead of the Caller ID of the relayservice provider. Other service providers currently providing IP CTS orIP Relay lack caller ID functionalities for the hard of hearing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the invention, a system for communication isdisclosed comprising a first telephone for transmitting and receivingvoice and text by IP communication, a transceiving device fortransmitting and receiving voice and text communication connected by ipto the first telephone, and a second telephone operatively connected tosaid transceiving device for transmitting voice communication thereto.The transceiving device provides the calling party's calleridentification.

Another aspect of the invention includes a method of communicationcomprising sending a first voice communication from a first telephone toa second telephone through a transceiving device and receiving a textmessage from the transceiving device. The text message is a text of avoice communication from the second telephone in response to the firstvoice communication.

Still another aspect of the invention includes a method of communicationcomprising receiving on a transceiving device a first voicecommunication from a first telephone connected by ip to a secondtelephone and providing text transcription of the voice communicationfrom the second telephone to the first telephone by the transceivingdevice.

Still another aspect of the invention includes a method of communicationwhich displays the caller ID of the calling party to the hard of hearingparty, and vice versa, and not the caller ID of the service provider.Through the use of other service providers and their current technology,the hard of hearing user has no idea who's calling him or her until thecalling party reveals him or herself in voice and/or via captioning tothe hard of hearing user.

As will be appreciated by those persons skilled in the art, a majoradvantage provided by the present invention is that hard of hearingpersons may communicate by means of a telephone to persons who can hear,as well as benefit from a Caller ID pass through feature which isunavailable through other current service providers in the market today.Additional objects of the present invention will become apparent fromthe following description.

The method and apparatus of the present invention will be betterunderstood by reference to the following detailed discussion of specificembodiments and the attached figures which illustrate and exemplify suchembodiments.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A specific embodiment of the present invention will be described withreference to the following drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of the system of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a typical screen shot of the agent receiving a call requestfrom a person of hearing to a hearing impaired person.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The following preferred embodiment as exemplified by the drawings isillustrative of the invention and is not intended to limit the inventionas encompassed by the claims of this application.

A system and method for providing communication for a hearing impairedperson is disclosed herein using the following definitions andabbreviations:

ACD: Automatic Call Distribution, software or hardware based systemswith ACD software generally used in call centers.

SQL: Structured Query Language, used for Database

ANI: Automatic Number Identification or Caller ID

DNIS: Dialed Number Identification Service. This allows a serviceprovider or call center agent to know which number the caller dialed orwishes to dial.

CRM: Customer Relationship Manager. This is typically used by callcenters and their agents to manage the call or treat the call in awindow.

Stored Procedure: a function in SQL which updates/writes to the SQLDatabase. This functions as a small program.

IP Phone: Any Internal Protocol based phone, for example, a Cisco 7960which is capable of receiving XML feed.

URL: Uniform Resource Locator. This is commonly known as a web address.

XML: Extended Mark-up Language, as is commonly used in websites.

Service URL: a pre-determined route which allows an IP phone to fetchits XML/Data feed.

DB: Database

Caller ID: Automatic display of caller's telephone number on recipient'sphone.

Relay center: An intermediate between the connection of a caller'stelephone and a recipient's telephone for the use of a person hard ofhearing. Such a relay center is commonly referred to in the industry as“Services for the Deaf”, “Captioning Service”, “IP Relay Center”, “RelayCenter for the Deaf”, a transceiving device, or the like.

The system, as illustrated generally in FIG. 1 shows atelecommunications system between a phone 1 and a phone 2. The user ofthe phone 1, as contemplated here, would be typically a hearing impairedperson or one commonly referred to as hard of hearing. The user of phone2 would typically be a person who can hear.

In order for a hearing impaired person to use the telecommunicationssystem of the present invention, which would enable phone 1 to receivethe text transcription of the voice communication of phone 2, the userof phone 1 must be a registered user. To register for the service, thehearing impaired customer must first visit a hosting website, such asPhoneCaption.com. To register for use, the hearing impaired person wouldtypically enter personal profile data, for example, first and last name,address, primary phone number (the one on which he wants to receivetext), and his e-mail address.

Upon entering the above information, the user is authenticated orregistered and typically provided with an 800- or 888- or 10-digitnumber provided by the relay service, which is matched with theirprimary registered number where they will be receiving the phone calls.The user of phone 1 would give out this 800- or 888- or any otherten-digit number assigned by the relay service provider to theirfriends, family, or business associates where they will be receivingcalls. Upon registration and authentication of such a user, the user isin the database of the service provider so that he or she can make orreceive phone calls with transcriptions.

When the phone 1 user wishes to make a call, he/she calls thepre-assigned 800-number for their account and when prompted, he/sheenters the number they wish to call, or Phone 1 user can dial a direct10-digit number of Phone 2. Phone 2, however, does not have to be aregistered user as he/she can hear/speak and has no need fortranscription or captioning. When phone 2 receives a phone call, thatphone call must be originated from phone 1 via the 800- or ten-digitnumber assigned by the relay service provider or direct dial 10-digitnumber, to use captioning service, it shall show Caller ID of Phone 1through the following process. When the call is received at thecall/relay center, the system shall see the incoming Caller ID of Phone1. When the second leg of the call is made from the CA to Phone 2, thesystem shall appear to the phone company as “Caller ID” of Phone 1 sothat the Caller ID of Phone 1 is released to Phone 2. The system willrecognize Phone 1 user's Caller ID and shall store the same in atemporary database to be forwarded to Phone 2 when the call isdelivered. Phone 1's Caller ID passing through the local phone networkor IP network delivered to the call center. At the call center, thedatabase server which maintains the intelligence of all calltraffic/call treatment/CRM/ACD shall accept the Caller ID and send thesame on the outgoing call thus enabling the Caller ID of Phone 1 to bedisplayed on Phone 2.

Phone 1 may be an IP phone or any phone capable of displaying text froman internet connection, for example, IP Phone, BlackBerry, WM-WindowsMobile, Symbian (an operating system of NOKIA), Java, Flash, XML, etc.Phone 1 may be any telephone from any carrier with the ability to fetchXML text by having the service URL programmed into the phone. Phone 1,having auto refresh, would get the newest text in XML formatautomatically.

The phone 1 is operatively connected to an ACD (automatic calldistribution) relay center 4 by connections 6 and 7. Such connections 6and 7 may be any type of connection regardless of connection media, forexample, internet, wireless, 3G, GSM, TDMA, CDMA, or any packetizednetwork. The user's phone 1 may further include any connected devicesnecessary to perform multi linked duplex communication and any internetconnected device(s) capable of displaying internet content to performcommunication.

An agent or a communications assistant 8 would typically use a headsetconnected to a computer 10. Of course, as is well known in the art, theagent may be wholly or partly replaced by voice recognition softwarecapable of providing a text transcription of voice communication. Thecomputer 10, running CRM and speech recognition software would beoperatively connected to the ACD relay center 4 by any connectioncapable accepting calls from the ACD environment regardless ofconnection media, for example, wireless, 3g, gsm, tdma, cdma or anypacketized network. The ACD relay center would be further connected byconnection 12 to a party with whom the user wishes to communicate usingphone 2. Connection 12 may be any internet connection regardless ofconnection media, for example, wireless, 3g, gsm, tdma, cdma or anypacketized network. The ACD relay center, has the wherewithal to acceptthe Caller ID, route the call and conference the call with an operatoror communications assistant/agent. In the process of setting up thisconference call between three parties, the program has the intelligenceto move the Caller ID data from the incoming line of Phone 1 through theoutgoing line to Phone 2 while maintaining the relay operator orcommunications assistant in an inert position without its own Caller IDidentification during the conference call.

The ACD relay center is connected to the internet 14 by connection 16 toa database server 18. Connection 16 is a multi linked, multi tier ipcapable of handling multiple calls. The operator 8 together with thecomputer 10 and database server 18 includes any devices necessary toperform multi-linked duplex communication. Updated text, includingCaller ID of the originating phone, from the relay center is sent to thedatabase 18 which has wherewithal to hold the Caller ID and to re-insertCaller ID into the outgoing call during a conference call set up withPhone 2 which will be delivered to either internet or via traditionaltelephone company.

The database is connected to the internet 14 via a web server 24 andconnections 26 and 28. This server is typically a Service URL Server.Phone 1 may be connected to the internet by connection 30 whereby theservice URL responds to phone 1 with updated text.

In use, the system of the present invention operates as a captionedtelephone relay service and a method by which a stream of text may beprovided a hearing impaired person. For example, a hearing impairedperson, using phone 1 may wish to call a person of hearing on phone 2.Although phone 1 dials the number of phone 2, the outbound call isdirected to the ACD relay center. To the hearing impaired person, it mayappear as a regular connection. However, the reply to all of the voicecommunication from the hearing impaired person is a text transcriptionof the voice communication from the callee as transcribed by an agent orsoftware at the ACD location. Phone 1's Caller ID is being delivered toPhone 2 as though he called Phone 2 directly instead of sending CallerID of ACD center. This enables the hard of hearing user to maintain hisown identity as though he made the call. This type of identity isessential as we see in the normal course of business, a person may calla credit card company or any other company which relies on the caller'sCaller ID to identify the caller. Furthermore, this functionalityprovides functional equivalency to the hard of hearing user so that heor she may not be identified as a hard of hearing person who needs relayassistance to the called party, thus eliminating any discrimination.Most deaf and hard of hearing individuals do not like their callers toknow they are using a relay center.

In reverse, a person of hearing from phone 2 may call the ACD relaycenter to request the operator connection with a hearing impaired userof phone 1. Once the call has been established among the parties, CallerID of Phone 2 is being delivered to Phone 1 and the operator willcontinuously transcribe the conversation for transmission of text to theend user until the completion of the call.

When a person of hearing from phone 2 calls a hard of hearing person atphone 1, the call first arrives at the ACD. The ACD connects to thedatabase SQL and determines the type of call to route the call to theagent along with call information. Such call information would be, forexample, ANI/DNIS, Caller ID with the CRM Integration for that call. Theagent then accepts the call with the information and makes a call to theperson hard of hearing at phone 1 based on the information provided fromthe CRM, for example, the phone number. FIG. 2 illustrates the screen ofthe agent receiving such information. Phone 1 then answers the call.When Phone 1 receives the call, the Caller ID shown on his telephonewill be that of Phone 2. The agent conferences phone 1 and phone 2together so that both parties can hear each other. The agent listensinto the conference (three party call) and transcribes the voice ofphone 2 into text delivered to SQL. The stored procedure updates the newtext automatically to the database on the SQL Server. Typically, theagent will use both his own typing skills together with the assistanceof speech recognition software to transcribe the text. Of course, as isknown to those skilled in the art, this transcription may be performedeither entirely or in part by software.

This process is possible through the agent's CRM integration with thedata base (SQL residing on the SQL server). Phone 1 is preregisteredwith a relay/caption service provider and serviced by any carrier, andprogrammed with a Service URL directed to Service URL Server.

At phone 1's request, the Service URL transmits the latest transcribedtext in XML format. The Service URL Server fetches the data from the DBevery time phone 1 makes a request. Text from the Service URL is seen onthe screen of phone 1. As the URL auto refreshes, the XML is updatedwith the latest data/text. The new text is seen on the screen of phone1.

Thus, the present invention discloses a process by which a device orservice can facilitate communication between persons of hearing andthose hard of hearing using any IP telecommunication device. The hard ofhearing user will be able to receive text over any IP display devicewhich is being transcribed by an operator or software from an interneconnected computer. In this way, a hard of hearing person will be ableto see the Caller ID of incoming call of the hearing party and hear thevoice of the party over the phone alongside seeing the same transcribedinto text over the display of an IP device. The procedure automaticallyupdates the text to hard of hearing users. The text is delivered to thehard of hearing user by means of XML.

In the business of Captioned Phone Service, as of today no one else inthe industry has created the technology to send Caller ID from callingparty to called party or vice versa. Instead the Caller ID of the callcenter or relay center or captioning center is delivered. This type ofservice is not functionally equivalent to the hard of hearing community.

Although the particular embodiments shown and described above will proveto be useful in many applications in the hearing impaired communicationfield and the general art of text communication and sending andreceiving caller ID, to which the present invention pertains, furthermodifications of the present invention will occur to persons skilled inthe art. All such modifications are deemed to be within the scope andspirit of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for communication, comprising: atransceiving device for registering a telephone user for voicetranscribing services based on user information received by thetransceiving device through a website, and upon registration, thetransceiving device is capable of automatically connecting to atelephone of the registered user via an IP connection, wherein the userinformation comprises a user primary telephone number and thetransceiving device assigns a telephone number to the registered usertelephone that is matched to the user primary telephone number, and thetransceiving device is also capable of automatically establishingtelephone calls originated by the registered user telephone andtelephone calls originated by another telephone calling the registereduser telephone whereby in establishing a telephone call between theregistered user telephone and another telephone in which thetransceiving device is connected to the registered telephone via an IPconnection, the transceiving device provides caller id information ofthe other telephone to the registered user telephone and provides callerid information of the registered user telephone to the other telephone,and after having established the telephone call and during theestablished telephone call between the telephones in which thetransceiving device is connected to the registered user telephone via anIP connection, the transceiving device relays voice communicationsbetween the registered telephone and the other telephone, and furtherthe transceiving device transcribes voice communications from the othertelephone into text and transmits such text along with the voicecommunications from the other telephone to the registered user telephonevia the IP connection.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the text is XMLtext.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein voice recognition software isused to provide at least a portion of the text.
 4. The system of claim1, wherein said transceiving device provides streaming text transmissionof the voice communications from the other telephone in real time. 5.The system of claim 1 wherein the registered telephone is an IPtelephone.
 6. The system of claim 1 wherein the transceiving devicecomprises and ACD relay center having a computer capable of executingvoice recognition software and said computer is connected to a databasevia an internet connection where said database is connected to a ServiceURL web server and the internet connection is a multi-linked, multi-tierIP capable of handling multiple telephone calls.
 7. A method ofcommunication, comprising: registering, by a transceiving device, atelephone user requesting registration wherein the transceiving devicereceives user information through a website and wherein the userinformation comprises a user primary telephone number that is matched toa telephone number assigned by the transceiving device to a registereduser telephone; connecting automatically, by the transceiving device, aregistered user telephone to the transceiving device via an IPconnection; relaying, by the transceiving device, voice communicationsbetween the registered user telephone and another telephone during atelephone call established by the transceiving device; providing, by thetransceiving device while establishing the telephone call, caller idinformation of the registered user telephone to the other telephone andcaller id information of the other telephone to the registered usertelephone; and transcribing, by the transceiving device during theestablished telephone call, voice communications from the othertelephone into text and the transceiving device transmitting such textalong with the voice communications from the other telephone to theregistered telephone user via the IP connection.
 8. The method of claim7, wherein the text is XML text.
 9. The method of claim 7, wherein voicerecognition software is used to provide at least a portion of the text.10. The method of claim 7, wherein the text is a real time transcriptionof the voice communications from the other telephone.
 11. The system ofclaim 5 wherein the IP telephone is capable of receiving an XML feed.12. The system of claim 5 wherein the IP telephone comprises devicescapable of performing multi-linked duplex communications and devicescapable of displaying internet content to perform communication.
 13. Themethod of claim 7 wherein the registered telephone is an IP telephone.14. The method of claim 13 wherein the IP telephone is capable ofreceiving an XML feed.
 15. The method of claim 7 wherein the IPtelephone comprises devices capable of performing multi-linked duplexcommunications and devices capable of displaying internet content toperform communication.
 16. The method of claim 7 wherein thetransceiving device comprises and ACD relay center having a computercapable of executing voice recognition software and said computer isconnected to a database via an internet connection where said databaseis connected to a Service URL web server and the internet connection isa multi-linked, multi-tier IP capable of handling multiple telephonecalls.